Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/101651
Sarasota News Leader January 4, 2013 Page 81 FLORIDA FANTASTICA TO DEBUT AT SELBY GARDENS Science inspires art in colorful mixed media show, Florida Fantastica, which will be on display at Selby Gardens Jan. 9 through March 3. The show is by Philadelphia native MF Cardamone, whose ���clear and insightful artwork illuminates people���s relationship with plants,��� a news release says. The exhibition is included in the regular admission fee to Selby Gardens, which is located at 811 S. Palm Ave. in Sarasota. The show will be in The Museum of Botany and the Arts. Guests will have the opportunity to meet Cardamone at a free public reception on Jan. 10 at 5:30 p.m., the release adds. In her unique form of art, Cardamone records a plant���s life history, ecology, folklore, wildlife value and medicinal uses by combining specimens with digital imagery, inks and handdrawn touches ���that playfully modernize the traditions of plant specimen mounting and botanical illustration,��� the release notes. ���Like Selby Gardens, Cardamone has a passion for the education and preservation of plants, but above all, her artwork strives to express the connections between plants and people,��� the release adds. ���I like to create visual puzzles with my work and try to evoke a sense of mystery and wonder in the viewer because that���s the way I feel about the natural world,��� Cardamone says in the release. Tree of Life is one example of MF Cardamone���s work. Contributed photo Together with Selby Gardens��� botany director, Bruce Holst, Education Director Jeannie Perales and Horticulture Director Mike McLaughlin, Cardamone developed a list of plants representing both the Gardens and Florida, the release points out. Many of these selections will be featured in the Florida Fantastica exhibition, which coincides by design with statewide celebrations of Florida���s 500th anniversary.